Saturday, April 18, 2015

Spring is in full bloom here and we are really enjoying spending time outside. The Red Bud and Dogwood trees are blooming and the area we live in reminds me of some of the scenes in Willy Wonka and the new Oz movie.

We had several days of rain earlier in the week and I found these cute little mushrooms on our garden path. They appear to be huge in the picture, but are only about an inch and a half tall. The edging on them reminds me of fringe on a scarf.

I've been wearing Tyrion's Gift in the evenings to keep the night air off my shoulders while we enjoy dinner out on the deck. It's knit up in Tarte in Volcanic Eruption and available on the Miss Babs site. It's a really stunning colorway, so deep and rich. I just love it! Leslie sent me a lovely shawl pin and it works perfectly for keeping the Tyrion's Gift in place. The brass coloring goes perfectly with the yarn! It's a really cute design and reminds me of a heart or little scissors.

I just checked my count down app on my phone and there are only 14 days until MDSW! I've made a list of vendors that I want to check out and have a few things on my shopping list. It looks like it might be a damp weekend, I'm hoping it won't be of course. But if it is, I am prepared with a new pair of short boots from LL Bean. I've been breaking them in so they will be ready just in case I need them. They were on sale, I think the darker tops may not have been as popular as the original lighter leather ones. Plus I had a gift card so I really couldn't go wrong! If you are headed to MDSW, there is a great packing tips thread in the MDSW group on Ravelry: Packing Tips The tips are handy for other festivals as well. It seem that no matter how many times I go, and how carefully I pack, there is always something that I left at home.

Friday, April 10, 2015

I hope you can join us for the Tyrion's Gift KAL in my group on Ravelry. It's being done in a casual style, cast on anytime you like and finish up by May 16th. If you haven't tried a KAL before, this is a great one to get your feet wet on. We have several experienced shawl knitters participating who are happy to answer questions and cheer you on. Tyrion's Gift is a simple lace pattern with resting rows on the wrong side which makes it a great first shawl/first KAL project.

Here are the fabulous prizes:

Leslie Wind custom made this pin to go with Tyrion's Gift and it's called Tyrion's Closure. It's a wonderful design and easily slips into your shawl and stays in place while being worn. Tyrion's Closure will be available in Leslies shop, if you can't wait until the end of the KAL to see if you won!

Gwenderful, my favorite stitch marker maker extraordinaire, has donated a set of her Rainbow Stitch markers.
I have several set’s from Gwen and they are fantastic! Plus they come
in a cute little tin which makes them easy to keep track of.

I’m donating a choice of any single pattern from my Ravelry Pattern Shop and one of the small project bags that I make and sell in my Etsy shop.
This one has cute birds in cages and cheerful colors and is the perfect
size for socks or other small projects. I’ll be updating the shop with
more bags later next week.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

I'm so pleased to announce the release of Tyrion's Gift, the fourth shawl patten in my Game of Thrones inspired series.

Tyrion's Gift is a top down triangle shawl that is deceptively easy
to knit. With resting rows on the wrong side, it's a perfect project to
take to knit group or work on while you watch the Game of Thrones
Season 4 Premier. This tribute to Tyrion and his lady friend Shae is knit up in Miss Babs Tarte, in the Volcanic Eruption colorway. Tarte has a wonderful hand and is a generous 500 yard skein. Miss Babs dyed some up just in time for the pattern release and you can purchase directly from her site: Miss Babs Volcanic Eruption

A huge thank you goes to my test knitters Margi and Helen who whipped through this pattern in no time and gave it raving reviews!

Like
most couples, in the beginning Tyrion and Shae were truly in love. They
were both quite happy until Tyrion's father forced him to marry another
woman.

Shae refused to leave Tyrion, even at the risk of
her own safety. Tyrion was forced to resort to sending her away in a
rather brisk fashion. As a parting gift to show how much he cared for
her, Trion commissioned a shawl in deep reds of the Lannister colors.

A
single, simple gift to keep Shae warm was what Tyrion intended to give
to Shae. The betrayal that he got in return was most unexpected.

Use coupon code: Gift for $1.00 off of Tyrion's Gift in my Ravelry Pattern Shop, good through Easter.

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About Me

My husband and I live in Central Virginia with the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains as the backdrop for our home. We spend most of our free time together and I feel very fortunate that Im married to my best friend.
I started designing and writing patterns as a way to express my love for the beautiful yarns that find their way into my stash. I love being able to create a new design for a special yarn. I hope that you will enjoy knitting my patterns as much as I have enjoyed designing them.
Follow me on my Facebook page - Lara Smoot - Designs for pattern release dates and sneak peeks at what I’m working on.